Earnie's
Obsession
by Don Drewniak
Ernie Lapinski
had a problem. More properly, he had a slew of
problems. One of them had become an obsession
that ultimately cost him his marriage. During his
sophomore year in college, he walked into his
dorm room and found his roommate in bed with his
(the roommate’s) girlfriend and her sister.
Ernie froze for ten, perhaps fifteen, seconds
before backing out of the room.
The image of
the threesome came to haunt him.
Time passed.
He married a year after graduating. The marriage
did nothing to erase the image. It remained with
him day and night, especially when sexually
engaged with Margaret, his wife. He dared not
broach the subject with her as she was quite
conservative.
By mutual
agreement, they fortunately decided against
having children. Five more years passed. Ernie
was twenty-eight, and it was then that his
obsession was exposed. He had gone on a weekend
fishing trip with two male co-workers. Margaret,
as she did once every week, went into his closet
to pick up dirty clothing that he had a habit of
tossing onto the floor. While gathering the
clothing, she knocked over two cardboard boxes
that had been stacked on top of a third box.
“What is
that?” Margaret mused as she saw a black
handle protruding from behind the floor-bound box.
She grabbed the handle of what was a briefcase
she had never previously seen. “Hmm.”
It was
unlocked. Curious as to the contents, she opened
it. There were over three dozen sketches on plain
white paper. Most were landscapes, one of their
apartment building and one of her — nude.
“What the hell?” she blurted out.
Margaret knew
her husband was capable of quality sketching as
he worked as a graphic designer.
But why
the secrecy? Why the one of me?
She brought
the briefcase and the sketches into the kitchen
and arranged them on the kitchen table. Minutes
later she placed her hand into one of the two
flaps inside the cover of the briefcase. More
sheets of paper.
A wave of
dizziness and nausea swept over her as she looked
at the first of six sketches. Three naked bodies
on a bed — Ernie, her, and one of her
sisters. The other five depicted the three of
them in positions that caused her to momentarily
pass out. Upon regaining consciousness, her shock
and revulsion turned to fury.
With the help
of a female friend, she rented a U-Haul truck and
cleaned out all of her possessions. After taking
photographs of all six threesome sketches, she
left five on the table and kept the sixth, the
one she considered to be the most vile.
“Hello,
Mom, I’m coming home.”
Divorce was
settled out of court four months later with
Margaret getting the lion’s share of
everything they possessed, including their one
vehicle.
Fast forward:
Ernie was depressed. He was pushing thirty and it
was one year to the day from when his wife
discovered his sketches.
“Here I
am alone on a Saturday night watching crap on
television,” he thought. “Might as well
go out and get drunk. Who knows, maybe I’ll
get lucky.”
He headed out
to a nearby bar and was working on a third drink
when he noticed a hot-looking (or what he
visualized as being hot-looking in his semi-inebriated
state) mature woman sitting alone at a corner
table. She also appeared to be well on her way to
getting intoxicated.
Must be in
her late fifties or maybe early sixties, but damn
she looks hot. Why not?
It crossed his
mind that she just might have a hot-looking
sister. His obsession, fueled by the alcohol, had
increased in intensity and irrationality.
Ernie walked
over to her table and asked if he could join her.
To his delight, she said yes. They chatted while
having two more drinks each. She admitted to
being sixty-one.
But a hot
sixty-one.
They were in a
taxi shortly thereafter en route to her house.
With the alcohol having totally loosened his
tongue, he told her about his threesome fantasies.
“Oh,”
she whispered while snuggling up against him and
kissing his left ear, “That is a great idea!”
Ernie was
ecstatic. He paid the driver as the taxi pulled
up to the front of her house.
As soon as
they passed through the front door, she called
out, “Mom, are you still awake?”
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